


Headline

by flibbityflob



Series: Dorogrid Week [5]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Modern AU, in the style of an interview
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:29:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24392095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flibbityflob/pseuds/flibbityflob
Summary: November 21st, 2019 – Fhirdiad TimesDorothea Arnault; Modern Romances, Burnout, Career Moves, and Kyphon and LoogBy Angela Cardenas, Senior Entertainment Editor
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Ingrid Brandl Galatea
Series: Dorogrid Week [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1761280
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	Headline

**Author's Note:**

> prompt - overwork
> 
> dorothea making the move from opera to film and then taking a yearlong break is a little out there, but hey, it's my fiction and i can do what i want!

** Dorothea Arnault; Modern Romances, Burnout, Career Moves, and _Kyphon and Loog_ **

_November 21 st, 2019 – Fhirdiad Times_

_By Angela Cardenas, Senior Entertainment Editor_

Dorothea Arnault, known by many as a decorated screen actress, with illustrious roots in opera, is also well known as notorious recluse. Her twitter account has six and a half million followers, yet aside from promotional tweets, there are perhaps a handful of personal tweets. Her Instagram, too, is sparse and contains mostly landscape shots. She has cultivated an image of distance from the public eye, despite her shocking charm during Comic Con panels and publicity interviews. It was a tremendous shock, then, when the Fhirdiad Times was offered a chance to interview this notably private star.

Much speculation is made about the specifics of Arnault’s life, some claiming she has been in a passionate, torrid love affair with her regular on-screen partner, Ferdinand von Aegir for the last six years. Others claim she’s secretly married to the CEO of Adrestian Solutions Inc., Edelgard von Hresvelg, and the two of them reside in an enormous mansion on an island off the coast of Brigid. What I discovered, when I arrived at her house, was a three bedroom house just out of central Fhirdiad. The first thing I noticed, before even stepping into the house, was the exceedingly well kept front garden. Later, in private, Arnault would tell me about the garden, and the flowers from all across Fódlan, but for the moment I merely stopped to appreciate their beauty.

Knocking on the door, I was greeted not by Arnault, but instead a tall, handsome blonde, a scowl affixed to her face. I offer her my hand, introducing myself, and she breaks out in a smile. She introduces herself as Ingrid Galatea (yes, that Galatea), and calls Arnault down.

Seeing Dorothea Arnault in the flesh is something I don’t think anyone is prepared for. There are all kinds of stories about her beauty and charm, but when she breezes into the room, I can’t take my eyes off of her. There is an astonishing charm to her, even before she’s spoken a word, and I have never understood why she has legions of fans more than in this moment. She takes my hand, and introduces herself. Not that she needs to, just by looking at her one can tell she’s something special. She beckons me to follow her into the living room, and I take in the home I’m in. I’ve interviewed a lot of actors over the years, and thus I’ve been in a lot of their homes. A lot of them have an air of sterility to them, probably because most actors spend their time away from them on sets, flying around the world, but this place truly feels like a home. Family pictures adorn the walls, as do pictures of Galatea and Arnault, and their friends. I feel a little voyeuristic, in all honesty, but I think Arnault understands. She commented on one of them, as we walked by it, a holiday from about six years ago spent with the CEO and CFO of Blaiddyd Industries, as well as one of Galatea’s childhood friends.

We arrive in the living room, and she invites me to sit down on the comfortable leather chair, herself sitting down on a well used leather sofa. She asks me if I want tea, and when I agree, she texts Galatea to bring us in some. We sit for a moment, waiting for Galatea. The silence is pleasant, and I find myself taking in the room, the decorations and the rather mismatched nature of the décor. As Galatea hands us over the mugs, she motions to Arnault, who nods, and she joins her sitting on the sofa. 

* * *

**Angela Cardenas: So, you’ve rather famously taken a break from movies for the last year, but you never said why. Can I ask as to what your motivation for that break was?**

Dorothea Arnault: (laughs) Well, I’ll be frank. I was exhausted. I’ve been in the industry for the last six years, and I was in opera for five years before that, and still am, sometimes. I stopped taking time off, at a point, and had stopped really practicing self care long before that. As Ingrid told me, if I didn’t stop I was going to break. Of course, that was three years ago, and I only took a break last year. 

Ingrid Galatea: We’ve been together for the last nine years, and being in opera was hard for her. But when you first made the switch to movies, I think it was a lot. You started to look exhausted after a couple of years, and I could see you getting close to breaking point a few times.

D.A: I didn’t want to agree at first, and I was very resistant to acknowledging how exhausted I was when you first brought up the point. But we were filming _Enbarr Nights_ , and there was a moment where I looked at myself in the mirror, and I realised at that moment that if I kept going at the pace I was going, I’d crash. And I just called Inga, and I was in tears, and we just worked out a plan. We wrapped _Enbarr Nights_ ’ press tour, and I didn’t take on any more contracts. I told my agent I was taking time off, made that post on Instagram and twitter, and then went on holiday. 

I.G: I remember that day. I think you said something along the lines of like, ‘I’m just so tired all the time, and I just want to go to bed and sleep for the next ten years,’ and I asked, like. What’s stopping you. And then you told Annie you weren’t taking on anything else for a while, and we booked plane tickets and went on a month long beach trip in Almyria. 

**A.C: Dorothea, you’ve been exceedingly quiet about your personal life, but I’ll assume you and Ingrid are together.**

D.A: (laughs) No, no. We’re just very good friends.

I.G: Friends who live together, and share a bed, and are getting married in a few months.

D.A: Very good friends. 

**A.C: Well, congratulations on your engagement, you’re such a good example of friendship in the modern era. But, I’m curious. Ingrid. You’re rather notable yourself, being the childhood friend of Dimitri Blaiddyd, and you’re the only daughter of Galatea Software’s CEO. Did the two of you bond over your public notoriety, and did that affect your relationship at all?**

D.A: Can I answer this one too?

**A.C: Of course, of course.**

D.A: Good, I can embarrass her. When we met she had no clue who I was. 

I.G: I- I’ll defend myself and say that when we met, I was in college. I was studying for a law degree, and this very pretty girl walked in, and I dug myself out from under a pile of books and tried to flirt with her. I’ll admit, it was pretty embarrassing.

D.A: It was adorable. I was charmed, and I didn’t recognise her either. Though she wasn’t starring in an opera at the Fhirdiad Opera Hall, and her face wasn’t over the posters plastering the coffee shop we were both in. But the thing is, I was so charmed by her, I asked her to dinner. I think we’d been together for about two months when I finally told her, and she was so busy and stressed with taking the bar exam, all she did was nod. 

I.G: Oh, no. I just didn’t care. You were Dorothea, not a celebrity or someone notable, really, just Dorothea. My best friend and my girlfriend. The only thing that changed was that I got free tickets to the opera and my flower budget went up exponentially. 

D.A: I don’t think more worldwide fame changed our relationship at all. We’re both inherently quite private people, and if anything it only made us more sure of one another. Inga was busy with the practice she was working at, and it made us appreciate our free time even more.

**A.C: Did the two of you find your relationship changed much when you did gain that international popularity?**

D.A: No. Not even slightly.

I.G: We already hid in plain sight a lot, so we just kept doing our thing. Dot’s an actress, so she hides us pretty well.

**A.C: You’ve mentioned how your break from acting was because you were feeling burned out, can I ask why you decided to come back?**

I.G: (laughs).

D.A: Ingrid! Don’t laugh, it’s a sweet story.

I.G: I’m not, I’m not! It’s just also adorable, okay?

D.A: Fine, fine. So, Ingrid proposed about six months into the break. We’d gone skiing in Northern Faerghus. Or rather, I was skiing, she was snowboarding down black runs whilst I was taking lessons. 

I.G: Hey! You didn’t want me to come to those lessons, I just took the day to do the stuff I’d never ask you to do.

D.A: I know, sweetheart, I’m teasing. Anyway, the second day, we’re nearing the end of the day, skiing down together, and we reach the bottom and my phone rings. And it’s my agent, Annette [Fantine, formerly of Domenic Inc., now running her own independent office], and she said she maybe had something for me. I was a little mad, but she assured me it was just a suggestion, and I didn’t have to say yes. Anyway, I ask her to email me more details, and me and Ingrid go back to the ski lodge, and she’s reading whilst I’m knitting her a jumper, and this email arrives in my inbox. And it’s from Annie, who’s sent me this script for a new adaptation of _Kyphon and Loog_. 

I.G: Now, the thing is, _Kyphon and Loog_ might be my favourite book of all time. The newest translation from Ancient Faerghan is just stunning, and I’ve tried so many times to get Dot to read it, but-

D.A: But I’ll admit to the fact I struggle with dyslexia too much to get through a classic like that. Anyway, I email Annie and tell her I might be interested, and we go to bed. The next night, we go on a hike and when we reach the Faergo-Sreng border, she gets down on one knee and proposes. And in that moment, more than anyone I’ve ever seen in my life, she looks like a mythic hero. So I say yes, of course, and when we get back I email Annie and tell her I’m in. 

I.G: Next to seeing the woman I love as the mythical hero Fraldarius, which, I’m trying to pitch to her but she refuses to listen to me on that, Kyphon might have been my childhood hero. Seeing her star in an all female adaptation of my favourite book is extremely exciting.

**A.C: Favourite adaption?**

I.G: Can’t choose between ‘74 and ‘98, but I love the dynamic between Kyphon and Loog in ‘86.

**A.C: Good choices.**

D.A: And of course, your favourite Kyphon is me, now.

I.G: As if you’d even have to ask. Even beside the fact that I’m a lesbian and you’re a woman playing the only man I’ve ever had a crush on, you’re my favourite.

D.A: (laughs)

**A.C: So, with your break over, is there anything new on your horizons?**

D.A: Well, that’s the thing. I’m planning to take on less acting work, I don’t want to burn out again, but I’m also thinking of working in directing. I grew up in immense poverty and it was only through sheer luck I made it out. I want to at least make a film highlighting the struggles of the poor in Enbarr today, and me and Annie are making decent progress in getting it made.

**A.C: That sounds like a necessary thing, as much as I lament it. I look forward to seeing your directorial debut. Thank you, the pair of you, and congratulations again.**

* * *

  
This interview has been edited for clarity. 

Angela Cardenas is the Fhirdiad Times’ Senior Entertainment Editor. You can find the Fhirdiad Times on twitter and Instagram at @FhirdiadTimes

Dorothea Arnault can be found on both twitter and Instagram at @DArnault_, and would like to express her thanks to everyone who has supported her career, but especially Ingrid Galatea. 

Ingrid Galatea does not have social media, and wishes to promote her practice, _Galatea and Gautier_ , a law firm that specialises in aiding small businesses and individuals in lawsuits against large companies. In lieu of wedding gifts, Arnault asks you donate to your local non profits.

 _Kyphon and Loog_ , directed by Lorenz Gloucester, releases on December 12th of this year. Read our review of it here.


End file.
